Wish I'd never seen or heard tell of them. Oh well, has anybody bought the weights TroyBilt sells to put on the tiller-we have the Super Bronco-definitely lives up to it's name. Do these weights keep it from jumping/leaping forward?

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 22, 2002

Answers

I have used a 5-horse and an 8-horse Troy-bilt for about 25 years. IMO, their is no better tiller. It does everything its meant to do. However, rear-tine tillers have to be used properly, and it takes some practice. They will lurch if one tries to take too big a bite at once (or sometimes if you hit a big rock); you must go over an area a layer at a time,depending on how heavy the soil its, if its virgin ground, etc. That is why they have a depth adjustment. You till an area shallowly until its tills smoothly, lower your depth, and till the same area, and on until you have dug as deeply as you want.

I've never heard of any weights; why would one need weights?

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), May 22, 2002.

I agree with earthmama, just some practice to get use to how much bite to take so it doesn't skip. I have just the pony, but wouldn't give it up for nothing,they are the best tillers!

-- Suzanne (weir@frontiernet.net), May 23, 2002.

This ground hasn't been worked in 8 years. After you go over each level of ground set on the right level it finally settles downn, mostly. When we used it last year the ground had been worked for several years. Part of it being on a slope didn't help. We've practiced the technique of no pushing it down using one hand etc. a lot, This thing even does this leaps and bounds thing for my husband, it must think it's relly super. But yesterday, after going over it on the same level at least 5 times, it settled down, some. When I talked to the lady at the company, she said it's divided among the lovers and the haters. Got mostly negative results when I wrote about this on another forum

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 24, 2002.

Cindy, so sorry you are having so much trouble with your tilling! I have never heard of a "super bronco"; must be a newer model. How many horses is it?

As far as you mentioning "even" your husband having trouble: I have found that is actually more common for guys to have trouble with these machines, at first anyway. Maybe something to do with them being more likely to want to use force, rather than letting the machine do the work? This is a generalization, just on my experience and conversations, not a personal comment on your man, whom I have no knowledge of! :)

A couple more things you probably already discovered: compared to flat ground, it will dig quite a bit deeper going uphill, and shallower going downhill. And it takes less time if one tills in different directions or patterns.

You say you read several negative comments about Troy-Bilts? This intrigues me since I have always loved mine. (My little Pony I have had since 1976 and still runs like a charm). What are they comparing them to and are they suggesting something else that would do the job more efficiently?

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), May 24, 2002.

Earthmama, thanks for your concern. It's a 6.5 HP, that makes sense about it being harder for men. Most of the people that complained talked about the leaping, and one woman sprained her wrist, I'll have to see if I can find that thread it might be on self-reliance or A country place when I have more time. I guess the biggest thing is you think it's gonna work just like a front tyne. I did compare dyslexia to it on the dyslexia thread. The wheels goin' at one speed and the tynes goin' at another.That definitely makes sense to me. I haven't given up, in fact I just finished planting over 100 tomato plants and other stuff, time to get back at it, Happy Tilling

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 24, 2002.

I worked as a sales rep for Troy Built for a few years, the wheel weights are pretty much a useless accesory IMO. The horse that I use is over twenty five years old and is still the best at what is intended for. There is a tool for every job and if it doesn't work right you need a different tool for your job. You can break new ground, I have, but it really isn't best for that. Troy built has gone belly up in the last year or so there are no factory trained reps any more.

-- Matt NY (mattjoslin@aol.com), May 26, 2002.

Like mine TroyBilt.We have 2.One is used by the wife for her flower beds.It's a small one,only has one speed forward,maybe a 3 horse.This one will leap forward when it hits a rock,doesn't have the weight my 8hp has,but this will leap too.I just stop and dig the rock out.Doesn't do the tines any good and you're not getting the depth you should be either.And yes,I have rocks in my garden.I think they grow a new crop every year. Central ME The Farm

-- Ray (thecfarm@midmaine.com), May 27, 2002.

The solution to your problem is to stop using the tiller. Tilling is terrible for the soil. Go no-till. I can email info. 150,000,000 of land in north/south America is no-till and spreading fast across Asia.

-- ken hargesheimer (minifarms@aol.com), September 14, 2002.

No-till sounds good, but unfortunately the way it is utilized usually involves voluminous amounts of chemicals.

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), September 14, 2002.